One Week
by M. Beth Tora
Summary: “I am in need of a temporary place to stay. The longest I would be here is a week, minimum would be three days. Seeing as this seems to be a secluded place." Rated T for minor language


Rurouni Kenshin

Fan Fiction

**Translations:**

**Hato-san:** It means father or daddy

**Haka-san:** It means mother or mommy

**Battosai Himura:** Swordsman if legendary skills and former assassin (Hitokiri) or the Ishin Shishi; Kenshin's former name

**Ma-ma:** It's sort of a "Yeah-yeah" sort of thing, it's often a brush-off

**-dono:** It's very respectful- like "Milord" or "Milady" (Kenshin uses it often)

**-san:** It's respectful- like "Miss", "Missus" or "Sir"

**-chan:** Often used for little girls or for very cute ladies- can be a sign of affection

**-kun:** Often used for little boys or for very attractive men- can be a sign of affection

-**sama:** It's respectful- normally used for someone you've just met or don't know well

**Oro:** A fraise Kenshin uses when hurt or confused

_A small girl ran around the side of a small house, chasing chickens and giggling happily. Although the revolution was occurring, she blissfully ignored the warnings of even going outside for a minuet. Why should she be scared? It's not like she was close to where the war was happening. And it wasn't like anyone from the war would come get her._

"_Mearii, come inside dear!" the child's father called from the house. She finally stopped harassing the chicken and did as she was told. When she went to where her father was, she noticed how tense he was._

"_Hato-san? What's wrong?" Mearii asked going to her father. The older man didn't answer; he seemed to be holding his breath. The young girl looked on the other side of the room, now seeing what her father was so stiff about._

_Sitting on the other side of the room was a young man with deep red hair which was tied up high on his head. His expression was one of expectation and slight impenitentness, probably meaning he had been there for a bit of time. A cross shaped scar marred his left cheek, and his eyes stared at the two almost daringly. It was no mistake that he was one of the warriors in the revolution, nor was there any doubt that this was the famous Battosai._

"_Mearii-chan… this is Battosai-sama… c-could you, uh…" the older man said, only looking at the girl with his eyes. Mearii smiled and skipped out of the room. It wasn't two minuets before she returned with a tea pot and three cups._

"_Mearii…! I thought you were going to the authorities!" her father semi scolded through a harsh whisper._

"_Hato-san, Battosai-sama is our guest. We need to be good hosts and be nice to him while he is here," the little girl said before sticking her tongue out at her dad. She beckoned both men to join her at the small table in the middle of the room; where she began pouring the tea. Neither of the men were in any rush to join the little girl in the middle of the room, but came anyway._

"_So Battosai-sama, what brings you here?" Mearii asked sweetly as she handed the young man a tea cup filled with tea. He looked at the cup before looking at the small family. He seemed to be debating whether or not to answer the question._

"_I am in need of a temporary place to stay. The longest I would be here is a week, minimum would be three days. Seeing as this seems to be a secluded place, I thought the chances of anyone following me here were very slim," the red head stated before sipping the tea._

"_Absolutely not! I refuse to have a man-slayer in my home!" Mearii's father said abruptly._

"_Hato-san, don't be rude. Battosai-sama has come to us for assistance, he hasn't done anything to hurt us," Mearii said, using vocabulary she didn't know she knew._

"_Not yet!" the older man barked._

"_Well, it never hurts to give him a chance," the little girl remarked, looking up at her father. Although she wasn't intimidating, she seemed to have silenced the man._

"_So, will you allow me to stay?" the man-slayer asked looking at the father. He seemed to hesitate before answering._

"_If you swear not to hurt my daughter, you may stay," the man said with a sigh. Mearii cheered happily; filled with joy that she had hopefully found a new play-mate. Although she knew he wouldn't stay long, the little girl was sure that she could make a new friend out of the young man._

"_Come on Battosai-sama! I'll show you where you'll sleep!" the little girl said taking the Battosai's hand and standing up. He followed suit and followed the girl down the hall. It wasn't long before they reached a rather spacious room. It had a large circular window, but contained no doors._

"_This used to be my play room. You can use it too sleep in and do what you do," Mearii said before getting a futon out of the closet._

"_Your futon is here, you can put your stuff in there too," she said, showing the teenager the dark green object before putting it back. She took his hand once more and they left the room and ventured further down the hall._

"_The last door on the left is the toilet, the one on the right it the bathroom, the one in the middle is Hato-san's room, and mine is next to yours, and across from mine is my new playroom," she said pointing to each room as it was mentioned._

"_And the kitchen?" the Battosai asked looking down at the girl. She took him away from the hall and towards the front of the house._

"_The room we were in before is the dining room, and next to it is the kitchen. The room across from it is where we keep the animal food, and next to it is where we keep the people food. The last door takes you out front. The one across from the dinning room takes you to the back yard and where we keep the aminals," Mearii said, once again pointing to each door._

"_So sleeping and cleaning rooms are in the back, and food rooms are up front, yes?" the red-head asked._

"_Yup! Oh, in the kitchen, there is a door next to the sink. That's where all of Haka-san's stuff is. Don't go in there," the little girl said. The Battosai nodded in understanding before they went back to his assigned room._

"_You seem nice for a man-slayer. I thought you'd be mean," Mearii said as the teenager put all of his things in there designated area._

"_I'm not mean, I'm actually very kind. I'm not bad, I just do bad things," he said looking at the girl and smiling at her._

"_Well that's good! You being nice I mean. I was told you were evil and killed anyone you saw, even women and children," Mearii said sitting on the floor. The red-head joined her on the floor quietly._

"_The only time I would do that is if it was on accident. I don't hurt innocent people. But enough about me, tell me about you, little-one," the Battosai said resting his head on his hand._

"_Well, my name is Tura Mearii Besu, my Haka-san used to call me Me-chan. I'm six-years-old and I live here with my Hato-san. I like playing with the doll my Haka-san made me, my spinning top and my rolling duckies. And I wanna be a swords-person when I grow up," she said nodding._

"_Wielding a sword comes with lots of responsibilities. And often times you have to defend people. Are you sure you want to do that?" the teenager asked._

"_I want to protect people! Especially my Hato-san. He can't fight for himself, so I wanna take care of him. It's important to me," the girl said crossing her arms._

"_Ma-ma, I understand. I just want to be sure you know what you're getting into, Me-chan. But if you want to do that, you need to start learning now. It takes a long time to learn how to do it properly," he said holding up his hands defensively._

"_Good! … Hey, you called me Me-chan!" Mearii said looking slightly shocked._

"_Well, yeah. Me-chan is a cute name, and you are a very cute girl. So I want to call you something that fits your appearance," the red-head explained nodding. The girl squealed and hugged the teenager happily, who became surprised at the action._

"_That means we're friends, right?" she said looking up at the man-slayer with a big smile. He thought for a bit before hugging the little girl back._

"_Yes, we are friends, Me-chan," he said snuggling the child, who snuggled back. In the back of his head, the Battosai wondered if it was a good idea to get close to this child…_

_The next day, Mr. Tura, Mearii and the Battosai ate breakfast together._

"_Did you sleep well, Battosai?" Mr. Tura asked, trying to hide the fact he was nervous._

"_I did. It was very peaceful last night. How about you, Tura-sama?" the teenager asked before sipping his tea._

"_I slept well, thank you," the older man replied. There was a silence before anyone said anything._

"_How about you, Mearii-chan? Did you sleep well?" the father asked looking at the little girl._

"_I slept okay. A fly kept buzzing by my ear," Mearii said before yawning. She poked at her won-ton with her chop-stick, obviously not wanting to eat it._

"_Are you going to eat that, Me-chan?" the Battosai asked pointing at the food. She shook her head, letting the teen take it and eat it himself._

"_You seem to be hungry. Did you eat very much?" Mr. Tura asked watching the red-head eat his portion of food._

"_I never had much time to eat. This is the first time in a while that I've sat down to a meal," the young man said before eating his rice._

"_After breakfast, do you want to play with me, Battosai-sama?" Mearii asked her mouth full of rice._

"_Mearii, don't talk with your mouth full," the father scolded._

"_I would love to play with you, Me-chan. But first, I need to freshen up," the teen said before collecting his empty dishes and standing up. He then walked out of the dining room to wash his dishes._

"_Mearii, what are you doing??" Mr. Tura said in a harsh tone._

"_I'm eating my rice," Mearii said her mouth still full._

"_No, I mean playing with the Battosai! Are you forgetting his is a man-slayer?" the girls father said looking intensely at the child._

"_He's my new friend. Battosai isn't evil, he's a good person. He won't hurt me," the child said after swallowing._

"_That's what he wants you to think! Before you know it, he is going to attack you," the man said in a hush tone._

"_If you have something to say about me, say it to my face," a voice said, scaring the older man. They looked to find the Battosai in the door way._

"_I would never hurt your daughter. I have no reason to. If anything, I would protect Me-chan from harm. You need to learn to be more trusting," he said walking in and taking Mearii's hand._

"_Come on Me-chan, let's go play," he said smiling at the little girl._

"_Okay! Let's play hop-scotch!" she said taking him outside. The older man sat in shock, wondering how the teen came in without him noticing._

_The two spent about a half an hour playing hop-scotch before getting bored and playing a game of hide and seek. Although the games were childish, the Battosai enjoyed playing and just being with the child. It didn't take the teenager long to find the little girl, he was just good at finding people who were hidden._

"_You found me!" Mearii chirped when she was found behind a stack of hay bundles. She then began counting as the red-head went to go hide._

_Meanwhile, Mr. Tura watch the two play their game- the fact that a murderer was playing with his little girl not sitting well with him. He was stuck between being happy that his daughter had a "friend" to play with, concern about who her new friend was and about what he brings with him and confusion on Mearii's trust in the teenager. He watched as the little girl looked around, searching for her friend before finding him hiding behind some bushes._

"_Do I trust his word about protecting Mearii, or do I continue not trusting him," Mr. Tura asked himself as the two began talking about something._

_That evening, Mearii chattered happily over dinner about how she spent the day with her new friend, while the Battosai sat quietly while eating- every so often nodding to confirm the child's statements._

"_Sounds like you kept him busy, Mearii," Mr. Tura said smiling at her bubbly daughter._

"_We had fun!!! I really like playing with Battosai-sama!" the little girl chirped._

"_Too bad tomorrow you have school," the older man said, practically shooting down Mearii's happiness._

"_What?! Do I have to go?! I wanna play with Battosai-sama more!!!" the little girl whined and stomping her feet._

"_We can play more after school, Me-chan. I'll wait right out on the porch for you," the teenager said as he gathered his dishes and stood up. Mearii did the same and followed the red-head into the kitchen. Once the dishes were in the sink, the Battosai felt small arms around his legs. He looked down to find the small child hugging his legs, her face buried in his Hakama._

"_What's wrong, Me-chan?" he said lifting the child into a carrying position._

"_I-I'm scared you're g-going to leave m-me while I'm at s-s-school," Mearii said between sobs. The red-head sighed and held the child close to him._

"_I told you, I'm only staying for three days, a week at most. This is only the second… oh," he said, realizing why the little girl was worried. He really was hoping this wouldn't happen; that he would become attached to someone, or someone became attached to him._

"_Me-chan, would you prefer if I stayed for the whole week?" he asked, looking down at the little girl._

"_I want you to stay forever, Battosai-sama. You're my only friend and I like being with you," Mearii said as she sobbed into the red-heads chest._

"_You know I can't do that, Me-chan. Yes, I like being with you as well and I enjoy being your friend. But if I stayed here for too long, someone would try to hurt you to get to me. I don't want that to happen to you," he said looking at the little girl in the eyes._

"_Teach me how to use a sword! If I know how, then I can protect myself and you can stay with me!" the small child begged, gripping his gi._

"_It takes years to learn swordsmanship to a point where you can defend yourself, Me-chan. I can't do that in a week," the swordsman said in a firm tone. Mearii said nothing else, but went back to sobbing. It broke the Battosai's heart to see his new friend this upset, but he couldn't do anything without putting her in danger._

"_I will stay for the rest of the week, and I will show you the basics of swordsmanship- just please dry your tears little one. It hurts me to see you like this," the normally emotionally controlled teenager begged._

_As the days passed, the two spent most of their time training and playing. It became harder and harder for the Battosai to stand the thought of him leaving. But the week seemed to come and go very quickly, and it was time for his departure._

"_Do you have to go Battosai-sama? Can't you stay a little longer?" Mearii asked as she watched her friend pack his things._

"_I must leave, Me-chan. If I stay any longer, I will put you at risk of getting hurt. Although I don't want to leave, I have to," the Battosai responded as he finished packing._

"_Are you ever going to come back?" the little girl asked, sounding desperate._

"_Maybe, after the war. But not soon. It may take a while," the teen said before looking for something in his bag. He pulled out something and turned to the girl._

"_I want you to have this. Keep it close to you at all times," he said placing the small item in his hands into her little ones. She looked to find a silver ring with three gems; two onyxes and one emerald._

"_It may not fit now, but when it does, I want you to wear it everyday and never take it off. This way, I can find you after this war. Then we can play and be with each other all we want," he said as the child looked at her gift. She hugged him and he held her in his embrace._

"_I'm going to miss you, Battosai-sama," Mearii said. Soon after they left the warm embrace, the man-slayer went on his way; leaving the small family with very few things to remember him by._

_It wasn't three days after his departure that the Tura's home was burned to the ground. The Battosai didn't hear about it until four days after the event. After hearing the news, he bolted over to the site; terrified that there were no survivors. Once he got there, his heart stopped; nothing of the home or farm was left, no animals, no crops, no people. He looked around desperately, hoping that the two got out okay._

"_Tura-sama! Me-chan! Anyone!" he called out, looking around. He stopped when he found a long arm standing out, badly hurt. It was obviously the father, and there was no doubt he was dead._

"_Me-chan! Me-chan, where are you?!" he called out, now horribly frightened that the child had the same fate._

_There was a moment of silence before the teenager heard anything, but suddenly- a small sound came from not too far away. He desperately followed the sound, hoping that it was his friend._

"_Me-chan! Please make a sound so I can find you!" he called out before listening. There was a pause, but then the sound of something banging against a tree trunk. He followed the sound, trying to make as little sound as possible. He reached a clearing and looked around. Then his body flooded with relief as he released the breath he unknowingly held._

_Next to a weeping willow was a very dirty, very tired, and very scared Mearii. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she dropped the rock she had been using to bang on the tree. The Battosai ran up to the girl and embraced her warmly as tears of joy and relief were shed._

"_Thank heaven you're okay," he said as the little girl held on to him. The little girl hic-upped between sobs as she cried into his chest._

"_I-I was so s-s-scared that I would die, B-B-Battosai-sama! Those bad men came and attacked Hato-san before trying to get me. B-But I used what you taught me to defend m-m-myself long enough to get away. I tried to save Hato-san, b-but I wasn't strong e-enough, and they hurt me," Mearii sobbed before showing the teenager the gash on her shoulder and arm._

_The red-head was stuck between feeling anger, hatred, fear and the need to reap revenge on those who harmed _his _Me-chan._

"_You'll be okay, Me-chan. I won't let those bad men hurt you ever again. But we need to get you to a safe place," he said picking up the little girl and carrying her to town. He wasn't concerned so much about the towns people's reaction to his appearance more than the health and well-being of the child in his arms._

_He rushed over to a health clinic and banged on the door. An older man answered before glaring at the intruder._

"_Why on Earth are you here?" the man asked in an annoyed tone._

"_This little girl needs medical care NOW! She was in the fire that recently happened and she is hungry, tired and hurt!" the Battosai snapped at the man. The man looked down at Mearii, who was moaning and holding her arm. He granted both of them access into the building before letting the teen set the girl on the bed._

"_The fire was a week ago, I'm surprised that she escaped, let alone live this long without food. Her wound will be cleaned so we can look at it properly, then we will see what we need to do," the man said before going over and grabbing some rubbing alcohol from a cabinet. The teen rolled up Mearii's sleeve so the man could access it._

"_This will hurt a little, but it will make sure your wound isn't infected," he said before putting the alcohol on a cotton ball and putting it on the cut. There was a rather loud yelp escaped the little girl's mouth._

_It wasn't long before the wound was cleaned (along with the rest of her arm) and wrapped in a band-aid._

"_She's okay for the most part. She is in fatigue and needs some sleep, probably a bath as well. So feed her, bathe her and put her to bed," the man said. By now it was safe to assume that this man was the doctor. The Battosai bowed respectfully before taking Mearii into his arms and carrying her._

"_You better not hurt her, Battosai. If you do, you'll have hell to pay," the doctor warned. The teen glared before walking out of the health clinic._

"_Where am I going to live?" Mearii asked as they walked._

"_Probably an orphanage. You're an orphan now, and you can't wander around town without someone to watch you," the red-head replied as he looked for a place for the little girl to stay._

"_But I wanna live with you," she said snuggling her friend._

"_You know I can't do that. I'm not old enough to be your guardian and I don't want you to get hurt again," the teen said before finding the building he was looking for. He walked up to it and knocked calmly. A woman answered before responding the same way as the doctor had._

"_Me-chan needs a place to stay, may she reside here?" the red-head asked calmly. The woman looked at Mearii before looking back at the Battosai._

"_She may. She can't live without her parents, we'll take good care of her," she responded before holding out her hands out to take the girl._

"_I don't wanna go with her, I wanna be with you!" Mearii said holding onto the teenager. He shook his head before handing the girl to the woman. The child sobbed as she reached out for him. The red-head turned his head away, hiding his tears from the girl. His heart ached as he longed to take the girl back into his arms and never let her go. But this was best for Mearii; she couldn't live on the battle field._

_So the Battosai forced himself to walk away from the sobbing child as she was taken inside the building. It was unbeknown to either that their paths would cross ten years from then without either of them knowing it…_


End file.
